"Well, let us hope so. But our doubts will very soon be solved, for here, unless I am much mistaken, is the person in question."
     As he spoke¹ the door opened and a young lady entered the room. She was plainly but neatly² dressed, with a bright, quick face, freckled³ like a plover's egg, and with the brisk manner of a woman who has had her own way to make in the world.
     "You will excuse my troubling you, I am sure," said she, as my companion rose to greet her, "but I have had a very strange experience, and as I have no parents or relations of any sort from whom I could ask advice, I thought that perhaps you would be kind enough to tell me what I should do."
     "Pray take a seat, Miss Hunter. I shall be happy to do anything that I can to serve you."
     I could see that Holmes was favorably impressed by the manner and speech of his new client. He looked her over in his searching fashion, and then composed himself, with his lids drooping⁴ and his finger-tips together, to listen to her story.
     "I have been a governess for five years," said she, "in the family of Colonel Spence Munro, but two months ago the colonel received an appointment at Halifax, in Nova Scotia, and took his children over to America with him, so that I found myself without a situation. I advertised, and I answered advertisements, but without success. At last the little money which I had saved began to run short, and I was at my wit's end as to what I should do.
     "There is a well-known agency for governesses in the West End called Westaway's, and there I used to call about once a week in order to see whether anything had turned up which might suit me. Westaway was the name of the founder⁵ of the Business, but it is really managed by Miss Stoper. She sits in her own little office, and the ladies who are seeking employment wait in an anteroom, and are then shown in one by one, when she consults her ledgers⁶

点击收听单词发音  

1 spoke
n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说
参考例句：
They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。 The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 neatly
adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地
参考例句：
Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。 The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

3 freckled
adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句：
Her face was freckled all over. 她的脸长满雀斑。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》 Her freckled skin glowed with health again. 她长有雀斑的皮肤又泛出了健康的红光。 来自辞典例句

4 drooping
adj. 下垂的，无力的 动词droop的现在分词
参考例句：
The drooping willows are waving gently in the morning breeze. 晨风中垂柳袅袅。 The branches of the drooping willows were swaying lightly. 垂柳轻飘飘地摆动。

5 Founder
n.创始者，缔造者
参考例句：
He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。 According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

6 ledgers
n.分类账( ledger的名词复数 )
参考例句：
The ledgers and account books had all been destroyed. 分类账本和账簿都被销毁了。 来自《简明英汉词典》 The ledgers had all been destroyed. 账簿都被销毁了。 来自辞典例句

7 prodigiously
adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地
参考例句：
Such remarks, though, hardly begin to explain that prodigiously gifted author Henry James. 然而这样的说法，一点也不能解释这个得天独厚的作家亨利·詹姆斯的情况。 来自辞典例句 The prices of farms rose prodigiously. 农场的价格飞快上涨。 来自互联网